Alien Prequel Now An Original Movie Titled 'Prometheus' With Noomi Rapace

Breaking News: Twentieth Century Fox just sent out the most significant and unexpected update regarding Ridley Scott's long-awaited Alien prequel. As it turns out, it's no longer a prequel, sequel or any other sort of Alien franchise installment. Instead, Ridley Scott's next major sci-fi project will be an original flick titled Prometheus.

Many actors have been rumored to be contending for a lead role in Scott's Alien prequel but with the official announcement of the film's title, and its confirmed release date, growing star Noomi Rapace has signed to star as one of the five main characters of Prometheus.

A literal buzz topic on the interwebs, Rapace has quickly earned well-deserved fame and attention for her critically acclaimed performance as the star of the original adaptation of The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. Rapace has been sought for many starring roles in Hollywood ever since, and was previously reported as a leading candidate for the part in this film.

As for how the new film idea came about, screenwriter Jon Spaihts (The Darkest Hour) had originally penned the prequel's script, working with Scott. Since then, Damon Lindelof (Lost) has been working with him to reshape the screenplay into an original work. Lindelof had this to say about working with his idol on the project:

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"In a world flooded with prequels, sequels and reboots I was incredibly struck by just how original Ridley's vision was for this movie. It's daring, visceral and hopefully, the last thing anyone expects. When I sat in a movie theater as a kid, feet raised off the floor for fear that something might grab my ankles, I never dreamed in my wildest imagination I would one day get to collaborate with the man responsible for it. Working alongside him has been nothing short of a dream come true."

As for what this film will be about, Scott explains that his imagination allowed him to get creative with the bigger picture of the Alien mythology, seemingly hinting that this may be some sort of spin-off.

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"While 'Alien' was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of 'Alien's' DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn't be more pleased to have found the singular tale I'd been searching for, and finally return to this genre that's so close to my heart."

This does confirm that the film is not titled "Paradise" as previously rumored and what we found out from the studio about it being only one film, instead of two.

Details on what the story will be about and what Alien elements will or will not be used are under lock and key, but with the press release also came the release date for Prometheus which is officially scheduled to hit theaters March 9, 2012.

Are you happy, confused or disappointed that Prometheus will not be a prequel to Alien?